Coffee
by ELfict
Summary: It's the one thing that symbolizes their relationship best. Coffee can be sweet, bitter, hot, cold... steamy. Not that it is, though. But Castle does always seen to know when she needs him. Er... it. Coffee, you know. One-shot series.
1. In Need of Coffee

**A/N: This'll be a one-shot series, all chapters with one thing in common. Coffee. Not necessarily about coffee, but well… it's there. You'll see. Just read. :)**

In Need of Coffee 

As Kate stepped out of the car, and into the cold, she shivered involuntarily and buried her hands in her coat pockets, in an attempt to keep them somewhat warm.

It had been a cold, stormy October day, the kind that made her want to crawl into bed, wrap a blanket around her and just listen to the rain against her bedroom window while drifting off to sleep. Which is what she had done. Well, tried to at least.

But the blanket hadn't felt quite as comfortable as it should have. And the drifting off to sleep part didn't really work either. No, she was wide awake. Totally exhausted, but awake.

She sighed, pushed open the precinct doors, and entered the warm building. The elevator brought her to the right floor in no time and before she knew it, she was back to staring at the murder board, wrecking her brain to see something new. Like she had done all day. And also the day before that.

The current case reminded her of her mother's in so many ways, especially how the daughter had looked when she told her the news. She knew that she must've looked something like that when she heard about her own mother as well.

Another similarity, sadly enough, with her mother's case, was that it felt like she was missing something. Some major clue that could help her catch the bastard who had caused all this pain. She was determined to solve this one. But determination didn't seem to help one bit.

This was the second night in a row that she was here at the precinct, even though after yesterday, she had promised Castle that she wouldn't do this anymore. But she just couldn't help it.

She heard footsteps to her right, and turned to see Castle walking towards her, holding two cups of coffee. Once he was at her desk, he silently handed her one, the look in his eyes telling her that he was there for her. Gratefully, she took the cup and non-verbally told him how much she appreciated the gesture, and even more so the fact that he was here.

He leaned against the desk as well, and they stared at the murder board together, both looking for the hidden clue.

Kate took a sip from her coffee and let out a appreciative whimper as the warm liquid slid down her throat.

God, she needed that. The coffee.

She cast a glance to her side. A small smile formed on her lips as she turned back to the murder board. Yes, and maybe him too.

-

**A/N: So, did you like it? Hate it? Love/hate it? Have no opinion? Then please review! :P It'll make me very happy if you do.  
This one isn't really long, but some will be longer. Others shorter. Whatever I'm in the mood for. Fluff, angst, friendship etc. Also, feel free to send me a PM with ideas if you have them (or review) and I'll see if I can get your suggestion in somehow. :)**


	2. The Warmth of Coffee

**A/N: This is inspired by **_**bookish7 **_**who suggested snow and coffee. Not sure if this is what you were thinking about, or what I was even thinking about, but I hope you'll like it nonetheless.  
Just some snow, fluff and **_**coffee**_**, of course. :)  
Gina and Josh don't exist in this one… Or, well, maybe they do but just not **_**together **_**with Castle and Beckett. :)**

**The Warmth of Coffee**

It wasn't too busy out on the white New York streets, most people were inside, much rather staying warm than seeing what the recent snowstorm had done to the city.

She had no idea how it had gotten this far. Well, maybe she did, though she really didn't know _how _exactly Castle had convinced to do this. Because right now, with her hair all messed up, and a shiver running down her spine from the cold, she honestly couldn't figure it out.

Her breathing was heavy, in a way that could almost be labeled as panting. She was tired and cold, but there was no way she was going to surrender now. She bent down to scoop up some snow in her gloved hands, after which she pressed it together, creating a perfect snowball. As she got up she suddenly saw an object similar to the one in her hand flying towards her, but she was just a second too late. The snowball hit her on the side of her head, pieces of snow clinging to her hair− which was now sticking out at strange angles.

Castle chuckled, though he didn't get much time to enjoy his brief moment of victory, since Beckett had already recovered from his hit and was now aiming to throw her snowball at him.

Dodging away just in time, the snowball missed him by mere inches.

Just as he stood up straight again, he held up his hands and formed a 'T'-shape with them, requesting a time-out. She leaned back and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I've got an idea to make this a little more…" Castle paused and grinned, "_interesting._"

His grin is what raised a red flag for her and she narrowed her eyes as she asked, "What are you suggesting?"

"The loser has to take the winner out to dinner." He replied, and smiled at the fact that that sentence incidentally rhymed.

As she mulled that over for a bit, she came to the conclusion that it probably wouldn't be the best idea. Because really, it sounded an awful lot like some kind of date. And, knowing Castle, she was pretty sure he would try to make their dinner into something it wasn't. Okay, she knew that wasn't entirely true, and she'd had dinner with him before. It was casual. Fun too. But they had never gone out to dinner again after he'd gotten back from his summer.

When she still hadn't replied, he urged her on, "Well…?"

"No." She sighed.

"Lunch?"

She shook her head, and he suddenly got an idea. "What about just coffee? We'll certainly need to warm up after this."

It sounded reasonable, so she agreed.

"Was that all?" She asked.

The moment he started nodding his head, she lifted her arm, moved it forward and hit his head with the snowball she had been holding.

"That's not fa−" He started, but was cut off by another snowball, landing right in his face. He sputtered something and quickly brushed off some snow out of his hair.

Kate Beckett gave him a wicked grin and raised her eyebrow challengingly.

Well, he was definitely up for a challenge. Grinning back, he ducked behind a snowed-in car and rapidly started making snowballs, stacking them on the ground.

They continued their snowball fight in a way that was very similar to their usual banter. It went back and forth.

Ever after the snowstorm, the streets had been eerily quiet.

Now, the silence was filled with the laughter of two – or at least, one and a half− adults, both not wanting to surrender and lose the battle they were fighting.

* * *

"Castle, why are we at your place? You lost, remember? You're supposed to be getting me coffee." Beckett said as Castle turned the key in the lock of his front door.

Castle shivered for a moment as he thought back on the snow that had gone down his shirt from the snowball that finally made him surrender. "Yes, I do remember that I lost, thank you for pointing that out." He said as he held open the door for her. She entered the spacious apartment and he guided her to one of the bar stools, after taking her coat.

Once she was seated, he entered the kitchen and rummaged through one of the cupboards, before getting out two large coffee mugs which he put in front of her.

Castle grinned and leaned forward to her. "Like I said, detective, I know I lost. But what I also know is that…" He paused and turned slightly to point at the luxurious built-in coffee maker, "_that _will make you the best coffee you've ever tasted."

She arched a brow. "_Really?"_ She sounded unimpressed.

He smiled. "Really."

Leaning back, he grabbed the two mugs, walked towards his coffee maker and put them down. He pushed a couple of buttons, and shortly after that, the machine slowly started filling the two mugs with coffee, spreading a delicious aroma through the room.

Not long after that, Castle got picked the two coffee mugs up again, walked towards Beckett and sat down next to her in one of the stools, presenting the cup of coffee to her with a typical Castle flourish.

He watched in anticipation as she brought the mug of coffee to her lips, his eyes following her every move. Just as she was about to take her first sip of the hot beverage, she noticed him staring, and lowered the cup.

"Do you _have _to keep staring at me like that?" She asked.

"Honestly? Yes, I do." He grinned as he added, "I want to see your reaction as you taste this coffee."

Rolling her eyes, she brought the coffee cup back to her lips and took a sip of it, just to be able to tell him that he was totally overreacting. But, as the dark liquid slid down her throat, the taste of coffee lingering on her tongue, she felt like she might need to revise that statement. Her eyes met his and the amused sparkle that she saw there, along with his triumphant grin made her realize that the look on her face after tasting the coffee had been _exactly _what he was hoping for. Damn.

"Like it?" He asked, still grinning.

She glared at him, annoyed with him for being right and rubbing it in her face. After she drank some more coffee, though, she _really _wanted an answer to the question that had been on her mind the whole time.

"Okay, I admit− it's delicious." She said. "Seriously, _where _did you get this coffee from?"

"Italy." He stated simply.

It was a good thing she didn't have any coffee in her mouth still, because she might have spit it out in surprise. Instead she nearly choked, and Castle moved a little closer to her to pat her on the back while she coughed− not that it helped any. When she returned to normal, she asked, "Italy?"

He grinned. "Okay, so not _really _Italy, but I took Alexis with me on a trip there once and they had the most delicious coffee I've _ever _tasted. So once I was back in the city, and walked past this little Italian coffee house – named Carluccio's− I just _had_ to go in."

"Of course." She rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

"So I go in− the delicious smell of fresh coffee already in the air− and was welcomed by Pierre…"

She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"He's Italian but his mother was French." He explained and continued, "So Pierre was this really sweet old Italian guy, with this lovely accent by the way, and he gave me this large cup of coffee and…" He stopped.

He had her full attention and she instinctively leaned forward in her seat as she repeated, "And…?"

He smiled and took a sip of his coffee before putting the cup down again. "And here we are, drinking the coffee I always buy at his place." He finished.

She smiled. "Yeah, here we are…"

Their knees were touching. It wasn't like they hadn't been before, but now was the first time she actually noticed it. And somehow his left hand had ended up lying on her right knee. Looking up at the same time as he did, their gazes locked.

Their knees were touching and she didn't mind. Her corners of her mouth seemed to have the urge to curl up at that thought, but the intensity of his stare and the swift change of mood made her resist that urge. Because, really, she had _other, _more dangerous urges that she needed to focus on right now. Or, more accurately, focus on resisting.

The hand that had been on her knee slowly made its way higher up her leg, which resulted in the man who the hand belonged to leaning closer and closer into her.

Her heart thudded loudly in her chest and her all words got stuck in her throat.

God, her mouth felt dry. Really, really dry.

His breath played across her lips, and even the small part of her brain that might've normally functioned the second before was out now. Freaking _hell, _he smelled good.

His eyes searched hers, needing to find some kind of reassurance that she wanted this just as badly as he did.

Hovering, were his lips. Teasing her. Torturing her. _Oh, what the hell? _She thought, and finally closed the distance between them herself, not able to wait any longer.

Slowly, they tasted each other, and when her tongue traced his lower lip, his mouth opened in response to grant her full access. Although she didn't realize that it had been her the sound came from at first, she let out a moan as their tongues met.

He _did_ immediately realize it, and that sound was something that he _definitely _wanted her to make more often. While they had been kissing, he'd gotten off his stool, and now, as her hands wrapped around his neck, he moved even closer to her, so that he was standing between her legs.

At some point his lips left hers, giving her a moment to catch her breath. Meanwhile, his lips moved down to her neck, where he slowly moved over the newfound skin until she let out a soft whimper. Grinning against her skin at the realization that he'd found the right spot, he gently sucked on it, and this time she let out a moan.

Her hand wove through his hair as he continued what he was doing− which was driving her crazy.

Now, with him standing between her legs, she could feel that all of this was also having an effect on him too. She smiled, and pulled his lips back to hers by placing a hand under his chin.

They continued like that, exploring each other while their tongues fiercely battled for dominance.

He tasted good, she concluded.

Partly familiar too, it seemed.

She grinned against the lips that were now almost as swollen as her own when she realized it.

He tasted a bit like coffee.

* * *

**A/N: Honestly, at the beginning of this chapter, I didn't really intend things to go this way. But, now that it did, I think I kind of like it this way. ;)  
**_**Carluccio's**_** really exists, though it isn't in New York. There are several Carluccio's in London, and they serve Italian coffee among other things. It isn't really small, I believe, but I liked the name… I haven't been there, **_**yet**_**, but I might go there when I'm in London next week. :)**

Anyway, merry Christmas everyone! I hope you liked this chapter.


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